1 hour earlier.
Shinomiya residence.
After instructing the other maids to remember to give Kaguya Shinomiya her fever medicine, Ai Hayasaka changed into a white dress, picked up her small bag, and prepared to leave through the main entrance.
However, just as Ai Hayasaka reached the main hall, she immediately heard a cheerful voice from behind:
"Ai~ Ai~ Where are you going?"
Ai Hayasaka's figure trembled slightly at the sound. She turned around and expressionlessly looked towards the staircase behind her.
On the long staircase, Kaguya Shinomiya, in her pale purple dress, leaned against the handrail, her delicate face tinged with a rosy blush, while her misty eyes stared intently at Ai Hayasaka below.
"Young Mistress Kaguya?"
Seeing Kaguya in this state, Ai Hayasaka's heart immediately sank, her tone carrying clear displeasure as she said:
"How did you come to the main hall?"
"You should be resting properly right now."
"I've been taking the medicine Auntie An gave me properly..." Kaguya's words suddenly shifted as she said, "Ai, where are you going?"
"I'm going out to buy some things." Ai Hayasaka replied in the gentlest tone possible, trying not to agitate Kaguya.
However, she was ultimately overthinking things.
"I want to go too!!"
Kaguya Shinomiya waved her arms like a mischievous child:
"Take me with you, take me with you!!"
Watching Kaguya Shinomiya patting the handrail and making a fuss, Ai Hayasaka's heart sank to the bottom:
"Miss... no, Kaguya."
"Could you please obediently return to your room?"
"No!" Kaguya Shinomiya refused without the slightest hesitation: "Hayasaka, you're going out to sneak some food, aren't you?"
"That must be it..."
"You didn't eat much during dinner, so you must be hiding something delicious and planning to sneak out to eat it behind my back now, right?"
Seeing Kaguya being so clever, Ai Hayasaka couldn't help but facepalm with a bitter smile:
"Normally such a sharp person, how come she becomes this foolish after catching a cold..."
Yet facing this childish version of Kaguya Shinomiya, Ai Hayasaka found herself with no solution.
If it were Kaguya Shinomiya in her normal state, Ai Hayasaka had plenty of ways to handle her.
But with Kaguya in this confused state, Ai Hayasaka was particularly helpless:
"Although I knew the young mistress would be difficult to deal with in this state... this unreasonable chaos... it's just like that Chika Fujiwara..."
And when facing someone like Chika Fujiwara, the best strategy was...
Ai Hayasaka racked her brains, then sighed lightly while covering her forehead. She looked up and said expressionlessly:
"Let me make this clear first: I'm not going out to sneak food. Though, if we're being honest, 'sneaking food' could indeed describe this situation."
Saying this, Ai Hayasaka glanced at Kaguya Shinomiya:
"But since you've already discovered it, young mistress... would you like to come along?"
"Eh? Is that really okay?"
Kaguya Shinomiya hurried down the stairs, even jumping down the last few steps, quickly running up to Ai Hayasaka and grabbing her right hand.
"Asked if it's okay with your mouth, but you have no intention of letting me go..."
Ai Hayasaka said helplessly, only to be met with Kaguya's silly giggling.
Seeing this, Ai Hayasaka silently reached out and patted Kaguya's head, then narrowed her eyes:
"Seems like the fever has gone down a bit..."
"Then... Miss Kaguya, let me confirm one more time - are you really sure you want to come with me to 'sneak some food'?"
"Of course~" Kaguya Shinomiya puffed out her chest and replied cheerfully.
Hearing this, Ai Hayasaka lowered her eyes and said in a subdued tone:
"Alright. It just so happens I'm not very good at this sort of thing anyway. In that case, Kaguya, why don't you show me how it's done?"
...
One hour later.
In a high-end hotel under the Shinomiya conglomerate's control in Chiyoda Ward.
Ai Hayasaka silently made the entire bed with the bedsheet she brought herself, then turned to Kaguya Shinomiya, whose hands were tied, and said:
"The basic preparations are almost complete, Miss Kaguya. When do you plan to take a bath?"
"Take a bath?"
The now lucid Kaguya Shinomiya shivered, glanced sideways at Luo Shu who was smirking nearby, then turned back nervously toward Ai Hayasaka and said:
"Hayasaka, I'm supposed to be a patient, right?"
"A patient with a cold shouldn't be exposed to water, isn't that right?"
"That is indeed one way of looking at it."
Ai Hayasaka nodded expressionlessly, but before the joy could fade from Kaguya Shinomiya's face, she stated indifferently:
"But Miss Kaguya may not know that Lord Luo Shu is currently the strongest known doctor on the mystic side."
"A minor illness like a common cold would have been cured the moment you laid eyes on Lord Luo Shu."
Hearing this, Kaguya Shinomiya looked as if the sky had fallen, staring blankly at Luo Shu:
"No way, how can there be such a cheat-like ability..."
'No, I actually didn't do anything... You woke yourself up out of fright when you saw Hayasaka making the bed...'
Luo Shu mentally added this, but still played along with Ai Hayasaka's declaration, pretending he had already taken action.
Seeing Luo Shu's expression that said everything without words, Kaguya Shinomiya immediately went numb.
She knew the decision-making power in this matter didn't lie with Luo Shu, but with Ai Hayasaka, who appeared to be just a tool-like maid. Unable to help herself, she pleaded with her good sister:
"Hayasaka, I know I was wrong, I shouldn't have said you were sneaking food..."
"Considering we've been such good sisters for so many years, please let me off this time."
"Precisely because we're good sisters that I don't want to let you off."
Ai Hayasaka took a white bath towel from the suitcase that had been delivered earlier by the arranged maid, then glanced at Kaguya Shinomiya before saying expressionlessly:
"The one sacrificing for the Shinomiya family is me, a maid forced to become a retainer. When you think about it, that's rather strange, isn't it?"
"Hayasaka..." Kaguya Shinomiya's expression subtly changed.
Meanwhile, Ai Hayasaka continued her onslaught:
"I should have told you long ago, Miss - if you want to protect the Shinomiya family, you must be prepared to sacrifice yourself."
"You've always said you'd do whatever it takes, so why do you keep backing away when the moment comes?"
Saying this, Ai Hayasaka walked up to Kaguya Shinomiya, lifted her chin, and asked in a suppressed tone:
"Answer me, Kaguya Shinomiya."
"Why are you retreating at a time like this?"
"I..."
Kaguya Shinomiya opened her mouth, then gradually fell silent.
"I don't know."